Hey Reader,

Zach here,

With a free course from Sony Animation and other inspirations and resources from the 3D world, such as a sci-fi 3D environment breakdown, 20 useful Blender tools for filmmakers, and a free pack of scanned moon assets from Polyhaven.

Let’s dive in.

​"This Is Animation!" - A Free Online Course from Sony​

If you’re curious how animated movies are made, this 100% free course straight from Sony Animation (creators of such hits like "Into the Spiderverse" and "Hotel Transylvania") will give you a precious look "behind the scenes" of a big studio production.

You’ll hear directly from directors and animators, and other industry pros who will introduce you to the complex process of making a 3D animated film. This is a great chance to understand the roles and jobs in the animation industry, as well as the creative and technical skills needed to pull them off.

The course also offers hands-on practical assignments that let you develop your own character and story. You can also share your results with top-tier professionals. If you want to know more about what’s inside the course, check out this trailer video.

Or simply enroll in the course here.

​Sci-Fi Space Elevator in Blender - Breakdown​

Graphics Processing Unit has shared his amazing Sci-Fi space elevator animation and a breakdown video showing how the scene was made in Blender.

From building the mountaintop terrain in GAEA (a paid 3D terrain builder, but a free non-commercial version is available) through blocking out and modeling the space station, to rendering and compositing, the video gives a good overview of how large-scale 3D environments are made.

If you’d like to learn how to do stuff like that in Blender, check out our Master 3D Environments in Blender course.

​20 Essential Tools for Making an Animated Film in Blender​

Blender has a lot of hidden features that can make your life easier when you know about them.

​In this video, Ben Moran shares 20 essential tools he uses on a daily basis to make his Blender filmmaker’s life easier. You might know some of them, but I’m pretty sure you’ll find something new that you’ll find hard to believe you could have lived without for so long.

​Lunar Landscape - Free Moon Scans from Polyhaven​

Polyhaven has just released their new pack of scanned assets, "Lunar Landscape".

It is a unique set of models, textures, and HDRi maps to recreate realistic moon landscapes. Perfect for all kinds of space or sci-fi projects.

As usual with Polyhaven, it’s all licensed under the CC0 public domain license (that means it can be used freely, even for commercial projects, without attribution).

How did Polyhaven’s crew manage to "scan the moon"? Did they go to outer space? You can read all about it in their blog.

​Grab the Lunar Landscape assets here​

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That’s all from me today, have a great weekend, and till next time.

~Zach.